Its not something you could really understand without trying it. The sheer rush of adrenaline and emotion. Its almost spiritual, really. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but its much easier to appreciate when you really understand whats going on. I felt the same way about football until my brother, a football player, explained the game to me, and helped me really understand whats happening. I have a much greater appreciation for it now.

I can't believe they question the referee like that. Accepting touches against you gracefully used to be a mandatory part of fencing in my school. And they don't bent their knees enough :)

Glad to see that you at least are trying to see where I'm coming from! Fencing started to go downhill (downhill from my perspective anyway) back when the Soviet Union wanted to dominate the Olympics. All that mattered was scoring touches, even if they themselves were hit. Because of the way it was scored (the electrical system) they began to win. The rest of the world (especially the U.S.) , desperate to compete with the Soviets, joined in with it. The goal was simply to put the light on. . . .

o thanks. i've been doing sabre for about 2 months now and im always stopping in the middle of practice bouts to see who got it. thanks :)

exactly. makes each round much more intense.

fencing is actually a well respected sport that some people dont do for show, if you try this yourself you will find that swinging your sword around like a maniac will get you nowhere.

This is the most excellent I ever seen. In fact, it is difficult to view fencing game on TV show of Hong Kong

I fenced saber in college in the 70s before electric and returned to fencing about 12 years ago. The sport has changed. The slightest touch on a cuff scores so whip overs and mal-parries are part of the strategy. Before electric the action of attack was grander as was the parry. A 5 parry was positioned well above your head. Now any parries like that would leave you too vulnerable to any blade contact. Hits made with the flat of the blade or not with a cutting action were deemed passe

This is amazing, I can hardly tell who wins because they're moving so fast!

If memory serves me right, it means that a touch was scored. In the case of two lights it means that both fencers scored a touch simaltainiously. Unfortunately I don't fence, just love watching the sport.

Bruce lee used this style very much for his JKD. In fact, straight punching came from fencing. Thats why i adore this sport so much :D

Sport fencing and classical are most certainly two different beasts! 0.0.

Correction gremdelagrem: For sabre, you don't need to use the edge or point. People commonly swing wildly, hit with the BLUNT end, scream as loud as they can to influence the referee and repeat again hoping they can swing that blade just a few ms faster and the referee give it to you. The phrase d'armes is painfully almost non-existent.

1:48 is a master piece! amazing point! :)

I'm wondering why no tv producer has yet to think: "Hmm...maybe we should show the judge's decision after touches"

Hahaha, he was so happy he almost forgot to salute :)

Yes. Swordfighting with like 5 layers of garment and a reel dragging you back.

im just learning about fencing too, seems like a fun sport

2 seconds fencing !!!! I thought we'll have a real fight here !!

fencing would be the most popular game if the swords were real

i hate when people try to argue that it was there touch when it obviously wasit

Basically 2 people are fighting with swords, and the reason it ends so quick is because the other person is not blocking if you get hit by the sword in a stab or slash fashion you lose the round.

i'm not a charger, i'm not a retreater,i don't aim for anything but the forearms, paree and counter is my key strategy and that's my style

That was hilarious Hes like "Yes! YES! I Won-omg wtf ow! YES! I WON!"

Someone obviously doesn't understand fencing. There are three separate dueling categories; each with a separate blade--Foil, Sabre, and Epee. Sabre is one of the fastest styles due to how many more hits can score points. Where Foil and Epee require a "stab" to score point, Sabre allows slashes and cuts as well. Hence, faster rounds.

The fun is in watching the structure of the bout, and the strategy. If you want good bladework look at the 1936 video back when heavy bladework was popular.

aww i miss fencing :( i wish i could go back

The Foil is my blade of choice.

There won't be any doubts regarding who scored and the risk of injury is very small. Even the referee isn't essential! Modern fencing can be extremely fun to play! All you got to do is focus on getting the point, the machines will take care of the rest.

The risk of injury is just as, if not lower in classical fencing if correct technique, form, and safety protocols are followed. That's why the current blades closer resemble car antennas or whips than swords, people literally run into each other. Stiffer blades would snap, leaving a sharp point running the risk of actually running someone through. At the rate it's going, I predict people will be fencing with spaghetti noodles soon.

A hit, a very palpable hit.

Depends on what sword you use. Epee, everywhere. Saber, shorts and above, and foil, t-shirt and above. I recommend using saber. Way more fun

That's what I was thinking. Even as an experienced fencer who watches sabre bouts all the time, some of the touches were very difficult to call.

thanks for your answer; I am a martial artist and I was watching some fencing videos, hoping to learn some stuff for improving my sword technique (it was an advice from my chinese master..). I was expecting more a fighting art rather than a competitive art!

yup definatley! its all about tactics and controlling your opponent footwork, timing, changing tempo all done extremely fast and with precision

this is sport fencing!! it could be fun to see them with real sabers with prtection of course, and see how it would look

the olympics semi finals had rounds that lasted lots longer. they also had three rounds in less than a second though..

colin and power. if either of you had any sense then you'd realise that in the days when sabres where used as a weapon they actually used them on a horse and the goal would be to get the opponent's blade out of the way before chopping them all whilst the horse was running at the other person.

these guys dont parry much, it seems they just keep going for the point straight away

with foil the target is the chest only, and must be hit with the point of the sword. With the sabre the target is the top half of the body (excluding fingers) and can be hit with the point or the edge of the blade. Therefore the fighting styles are totally different

ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ! Such great skillzzzz

ah... Genial este combate!, mucho que decir y que pensar xD....Viva el Sable!!!!!!, y con el Esgrima!

We should do this, but with claymores.

Well it's not like a movie that you can block and counter back all the all time. It's real life dude

@Darce223 the reason they use saber is cuz its a dueling weapon which the musketeers used.Claymore are not dueling weapons, though they can be used to dual but is not flexible as sabre nor as fast

Well, the hand-and-half sword category lies in that grey area between what is considered to be true arming swords and true longswords. (Hence "bastard" swords.) Swords in the Bidenhander/"Zweihander" category were still agile enough in trained hands to use interchangeably against normal swords as well as pikes. They were just slightly bigger. The "longsword" umbrella still covers bidenhanders and claymores quite comfortably, despite the trivial differences in appearance/handling

1:46 - my favorite move. 5:48 - HAHA water bottle.

epee is a point weapon (only the tip can be used to score) whereas saber is an edge weapon. also the entire body is scoring area in epee but only the waist up is scoring area in saber.

@Jehosh27 in sabre there's right of way to decide who gets the point if there are 2 lights. For example if u are moving forward while hes moving back and u both hit each other, its your point since that is considered an attack. There are lots of other rules that wud take forever to explain tho lol

exactly, everything done in fencing nowadays is all about safety (but i do agree that broadsword fighting is fun)

Actually they are very comfortable, and also reduce the impact but otherwise it doesnt hurt.

very nice definition hahaha the epee one made me laugh

@Guild176 I fully agree. Parrying is the only way you're going to beat someone who is faster than you.

Directing sabre is very difficult. You have to be a real expert to be able to tell initially that the guy on the left lost right-of-way by landing his front foot before striking.

They just need to change the rules where in order to score a win, the attacker with the touch must escape the opponent's touch by 2 seconds after his touch. Scoring up to 5 touches for 3 sets.

podzniakov crosses his feet.

Yeah. Olympic/Competition fencing is VERY fast and aggressive. Not a lot of the movie/choreographed style I think most people are used to.

I don't know who you hang around or met but almost all of the competitors I have met are modest men, Including the national champion. I have just started fencing my self and I say don't knock it til you've tried it

your goal is not to confuse the opponent with the "play around" part, it is to make him attack you(open himself). Since you are then prepared for the attack you simply parry and riposte!

Foil the target area is the chest, and there is "right of way," where the first person to strike gets precedence over someone striking after. Only the tip may be used. Saber is the cutting weapon, the edge and the tip can be used, and the target in the chest and arms and head. No right of way. With the epee, the entire body is the target and there is no right of way, but only the tip may be used.

Thank you. What swords are being used in the first sword match in the movie "the duelists"?(check my favorites).. Those look fairly comparable to what the epee people are using....

what a debate

While it's true that sabre is not a thinking game unlike the other two, it is the most difficult because it requires fast footwork and good hand and eye coordination. I think it's the best weapon simply because you can hit with the edges and it really gets your adreniline (sp) running.

I agree entirely. It's because, at that level, winning is far more important than swordsmanship, style, or indeed the art of the thing. Unfortunately, these people fence as a sport, not an art, as it should be, if it's to be worth watching. There is a certain school of training which is taking advantage of the emphasis on offensive technique currently in vogue. The general guideline for most sabruers is "80% of attacks hit, 80% of hits score, hence attack!" We endeavour to be the other 20%...

sabre is this here, u can only hit upper body, and u can hit anywhere on the blade. in epee u can hit anwhere, but u have to poke them with the tip. foil u can hit the torso (no head or arms) and you poke. foil and sabre have right of way rules too

Don't let it put off, fencing is actually very fun.(Pretty much to the point of addiction if you ask most fencers.)It's fun to watch once you get into it & understand a lot more, but it can seem a bit boring at first when you're just watching. Just give it a try. ^_^

saber has a guard and is in my opinion more fun to fence with and the attacks are completly different in foil then in saber such as in saber i dont really stab as in a poke but in foil they always do that i like saber a lot more then foil anyday

im just watching this to get better at the sport myself

i totally agree

oh i miss playing!!

Yeah, i fence, i've been fencing for 8 years almost

They still, bounce, flail around, have little to no parrying, and then when one (or both) of them gets hit, they both scream and yell, one fencer makes a childish show of disappointment, begrudging his opponent's victory, the other engages in an equally infantile celebration, rubbing is adversary’s nose in the defeat. Absent are empathy, respect, dignity, grace and composure. In a realistic situation, they respect each other and parrying is valued much more that just hitting the other guy.

YES!!!! Fencing is absolutely fantastic, and i highly recommend it!!! You might want to start out with foil and then maybe move on to epee or sabre but that's just my opinion.

Yup. Foil & sabre have right away, epee is the only one that doesn't require it in order to score. ^_^

Watching a round of pools helps before fencing the same people in DE's though. You can watch what they do and so won't be completely surprised when you fence them.

Take up the sport and you'll see why. There is an adrenaline rush when you get your opponent first. This is as close to real sword fighting as you can get without drawing blood. It's also quite painful because you get to slash your opponent, it's like being whipped with a metal stick. It is however addicting.

just a future comment passing through

They both have very agressive styles,it would be extreamly hard for me to even parry one of their attacks.

@tarozeero 100% correct, I highly doubt any of the competitors would be so frivolous with their attacks if they were using live blades. It's one of the drawbacks of competition, in life and death situations, strategies revolve around preservation of life not points on a board

yeah theres no rule against it but you'll usually be using the edge

The assault is stopped each time theres body-to-body contact, or when the situation is very confusing/hard to make a point (for example when both fencers attack each other and both fail they keep trying to hit each other and it gets very confusing) Also the assault is stopped when a point isn't very clear and the ref needs to check if he's right or not(i've seen some checking the cameras or asking to the other refs)

o thanks

And lo we should all see the day that swords are beaten blunt and turned to sport

@faj15steam it is one of the sports featured in the olympic games.

Sad but true. Thankfully, at club level you can still find those willing to give credence to the art of the thing. I don't compete much anymore, simply because there's not a lot of point when you fence with any degree of technique. I still train just as much, just not many tournaments, unless they need to make up numbers.

Well my problem being that a European Longsword is a hand and a half balanced sword used for sword fighting, and a lowlands Claymore is a "Great Sword" used for fighting pole arms. Saying the differences are aesthetic is like saying a hammer is the same as a saw...

I think the same about saber, and I totally agree with CSjuggling, except that the sabre is the most fun kind of fencing for me, because we have to think se fast that sometimes you don't even know what you just did, and why you did the touch. Epee duels are longer and much more based on tactics. Foil duels are the most beautiful fights, though.

hey, ive been interested in fencing for a wile now and might start it up, do u lot recomend it or have any tips for me.

thanks

I have fenced for 9 years myself and I must say that epee is the easiest weapon to pick up and start going. I believe that showing that weapon would increase interest in the sport (which is what we all want, right?). I think that epee has the best balance between the finesse of foil and the brutality of saber (or sabre if you prefer).

If the swords didn't bend, the body would; i.e., the person who got hit would be impaled. Physics says something's gotta give when force meets object.

umm......okay......this is just like kids who cant figure out fighting with paper swords

Guess what? Yes, this is sabre. You can tell, in part by the official fp "Men's Sabre Semifinals" label at the beginning. That was hard, no? I also fence sabre, and this is unquestionably the genuine article. And I'd be willing to bet that not a single person who has a youtube account could ever parry any attack of a World Championship semifinalist, because, you know, they're World Championship semifinalists.

@Myoosh, You are watching Olympic level fencing. No one is just "hoping for the best" Go to your local club. You will probably meet a lot of people having a lot of fun. @ tuerkefechi, "Once upon a time" is when princesses kissed frogs." Bored? Go get two rapiers,two little rubber tips, 2 masks, and a book for beginners with no Maestro. Then find a friend, go in the back yard and flail away.You will suck at it[I do], but it is loads of fun, right up until your arm hurts too much.

fencing sounds cool, how would i get into it?

It stops because once your hit, in a real duel your pretty much DEAD!

Foil is awsome

Sabre is the hardest to use in my oppinion, but it's fun to watch.

O.K. Iron Man. 15 seconds to get revenge. L.O.L I bet you like W.W.F

it takes a lot of skill and speed